Sat, 16 Feb 2019 15:56:16 -0500WeeblySat, 16 Feb 2019 18:10:14 GMThttp://www.karencampbellartist.com/blog/february-16th-2019Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!​My husband and I celebrated by eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! He in his office on a conference call, and me, munching mine with the kids at the table.

Aaaahhhh love, ain't it grand?!​Hahahaha no worries, I think since we just had our Vegas trip, we weren't too keen on spending anymore money on love! 😂We're good!

This week I am continuing to have a blast practicing and teaching how to draw EXPRESSIONS!!!Cuz frankly I'm in love with drawing beautiful faces but in hate with all the dead-pan expressions that they normally wear!!

What the heck is up with that! lol!

If you want to learn how to make your girls have better/more/different expressions, then come join me for a fun and easy 6 minute tutorial you can watch by CLICKING HERE or on the photo link below. But grab your pencil to draw along, it's the bestest way to learn!

And don't forget to have fun!!!See you all next Friday for some more fun expression lessons as guest artist Claudia Finelle will be joining us to be teaching how to draw a smiling girl with TEETH!!! THAT LOOK AWESOME!! I KNOW!See you on YouTube!

]]>Fri, 08 Feb 2019 16:20:52 GMThttp://www.karencampbellartist.com/blog/no-more-resting-bitch-facesAs you know, I LOOOOVE drawing and painting faces! BUT I am SO TIRED OF THEM BEING COMPLETELY DEVOID OF ALL EXPRESSION AND EMOTION. Like, seriously!!! We need to move on past the Resting Bitch Face, amiright?!?!That's why I'm so fired up for today's lesson which you can WATCH HERE. TODAY is the day that I am kicking off how to draw faces that express ACTUAL emotion. I'm not talking a slight little smirk or a sassy raised eyebrow. Nope. I'm talking how to draw a full on seething woman!

And a woman that says, "DON'T MESS WITH ME!"

Is this going to be hard? Nope. Although the lesson is relatively short, it's very very simple once you see how!So come on over to YouTube and LET'S DRAW!

Incidentally, this is drawing prompt 14 of 20 in a series of face tutorials I am teaching! If you'd like to up your learning game you can view all of the art tutorials from the start HERE. It's fun, fab and free! Want to see what others are creating? Hope over to Instagram or Facebook and search the hashtag #100funfabfaces and you can see for yourself!

]]>Sat, 02 Feb 2019 13:50:22 GMThttp://www.karencampbellartist.com/blog/february-02nd-2019My dear friend Scottish artist Lucy Brydon is here this week to bring you a really in-depth watercolor lesson that is just jam-packed with goodness.Lucy is a phenomenal artist and fantastic teacher. We met in Scotland in 2016 and have remained friends ever since!You may remember her from my Fairy Tales Course where she taught another gorgeous watercolor fairy piece, and she was also the very first lesson on this year's LifeBook with Tamara LaPorte! So yeah, she's kinda a big deal!Her soothing Scottish brogue I could listen to for DAYS. Having trouble falling asleep tonight? Turn on her video, close your eyes and she will totally soothe you! I'm not joking!!!

In today's video she covers SO MUCH GOOD STUFF!! If you have difficulties with watercolor, struggle with it's fluid craziness and have a hard time mixing those perfect skin tones (I know I do!!!) then you really need to tune in, 'cause the stuff she talks about is gold.She goes over SO much in her sweet, calming video including:

Learning how to create a 3/4 portrait drawing.

How to transfer your drawing from paper to journal without transfer paper (I hot tip for me!!)

How to use a photo reference to correctly position facial features.

Tips and Techniques on how to mix your own skin tones.

How to do a wet wash.

The correct way to layer your watercolor to get depth and shading.

And how and why to use gouache to add highlights.

So I hope you enjoy this week's lesson! For those wanting to go and reference all the Fun Fab Face drawing prompt tutorials I have been doing on Fridays, you can access them all here for free: https://awesomeartschool.com/p/100funfabfacesHave a beautiful day!!! Happy Arting!

TGIF!!! Today's tutorial for the #100FunFabFaces drawing challenge was inspired by an artist I've admired for some time, Molly Harrison. I recently purchased one of her gorgeous prints on Etsy and specifically fell in love with the way she rendered the lips and sparkly eyes of this girl.

I mean, just LOOK at the way she highlighted those juicy lips and the sheen in those eyes!!! To die for, right?! I reached out to Molly and asked her permission to use this piece as a reference to inspire today's lesson. She graciously agreed! (THANKS MOLLY!!!😘)

I decided to work in my altered book art journal (which is actually a giant Alice in Wonderland coloring book from my local scrap exchange!) I started off by reinforcing the perforated pages using some decorative tape, and put down a layer of Daniel Smith Watercolor Ground (a new product to me).

If you know me at ALL, you know I'm obsessed with Daniel Smith watercolors. However, the watercolor ground - I didn't love. I'm an absorbant ground girl when it comes to watercolor surface prep, and still highly recommend that product after this experience. Lots of students ask me where to find this - your best bet is typically Amazon. I rarely see it in stores.

After my surface was prepped, I sketched the outline of my girl's face with all her features (sans one eye - to replicate the sexy Veronica Lake look!)

Actress Veronica Lake. Photo by George Hurrell, c. 1942.

​Next, I squeezed a few droppers of acrylic ink, let them drip around, and pulled out a watercolor brush to drag some color where it just felt right. I totally had a blast in my creative flow, blasting George Michael in my studio, while bringing this chic to life.

When you watch the vid, you'll see I have a bit of a paintbrush malfunction while it happens to be filled with permanent ink, no less! I didn't freak out because I actually love the adventure of mixed media. When something unexpected happens, it presents an opportunity to problem solve.

I actually took a day to mull this one over. After a break, I was able to channel my inner Bob Ross, and turned my "happy little accident" into a somthing I actually love now, and would never have added to the piece if it hadn't been for that snafu.

I hope you enjoy working on this week's mixed media lesson as much as I did prepping it for YOU!

Be sure to check out the lovely Molly Harrison on Etsy & Pinterest. Her work is gorgeous!! Thanks again Molly! 😘

]]>Sat, 12 Jan 2019 15:42:34 GMThttp://www.karencampbellartist.com/blog/how-to-shade-a-face-and-add-expression​In this week's face drawing prompt (#10 of 20 in the #100funfabfaces drawing prompt series) I will be teaching you an easy way to shade a mixed media face! Honestly, once you know where to put the shade, adding them with Tombow markers is a cinch!! Go grab some watercolor paper and let's do this! This project can also be done with Copics or colored pencils, watercolors or what-have-you! No rules in art my friends, no rules! Questions? Pop them in the comments section in the video or right here and I'll answer them, guaranteed :)

]]>Sat, 05 Jan 2019 18:47:15 GMThttp://www.karencampbellartist.com/blog/getting-creative-with-guest-artist-james-burkeHAPPY NEW YEAR!!I hope you had a restful and healthy holiday time! We had a lovely time (mostly) of plenty of ups (Christmas, yaaaay!) and downs (my 11 year old car literally died and we were forced to go out and buy a new one the same day...turns out you can't have 3 kids with no working family car ). But alas, we are pushing the drama behind us and away we go into the new year!!I am kicking off 2019 with fresh new splashes of inspiration as I begin to reach outward to other artists more and more to see what they're up to and see also if they'd be interested in sharing their talents with US!! The first artist on my list? James Burke!!! He is Australian (now living in the US), extraordinarily talented (that's an understatement) and said YES when I asked if he would share some of his ideas with us on YouTube (OMG!!!)! I can honestly say, after doing this collab, I can die a happy girl. I'M SERIOUS!

​Yesterday he shared with us a REALLY FUN mixed media collage (art journal) technique on YouTube! With a fun mix of tracing paper, collage elements and Posca Pens (with a few loose watercolors thrown in for good measure) he shows us how to make some REALLY funky and FUN pieces to create on canvas in our art journals!

Click the video below to watch!

That's it for this week!! Stay tuned for more free and fun drawing tutorials coming out every Friday :)

For those who may be interested, this is week 9 of 20 in a 100 face drawing challenge that I am doing with my YouTube subscribers and within my Facebook Group and I AM SO IMPRESSED by the progress in drawing skills already!!! If you would like to join in the challenge yourself, it's never too late! CLICK HERE to be connected to the entire video series playlist on YouTube (all 9 videos so far) so you can start at the beginning. See you there!

]]>Tue, 25 Dec 2018 19:21:42 GMThttp://www.karencampbellartist.com/blog/happy-holidaysMerry Christmas if you celebrate and Happy Holidays to one and allllll!!!!

My family and I spent the last few days on a short vacation to the Biltmore in Asheville (original home of the Vanderbilt's and the largest residence in America). The house was beautiful although cold! There's no heat or air conditioning there (brrrrrr!) and other fun facts are that there's a swimming pool in the basement and 55 Christmas trees set up for the holidays. 55!!!!!!My 3 boys were not so enthused about going but I thought it was fanTASTIC!

​We rented a rustic cabin in Asheville (which is about 4 hours from our home in the Raleigh area of North Carolina) and had fun playing board games and relaxing. We played my favorite game, Bob Ross's Art of Chill. It's a board game and sooooo freaking funny!!!! Each player has a palette and you compete for "chill points" as you race to finish various paintings before Bob does. Highly recommend!!! The game is also peppered with Bob Ross quotes (which, I ADORE wholeheartedly). In a nutshell: I LOVE BOB!

Then again...who doesn't?But where were we? Oh yes, Christmas!We came back in time to celebrate Christmas and relax while my husband has some rare time off. My favorite presents today are a purple vacuum cleaner (don't judge! It's not sexy but it sure is important!) 😂

Ok the purple makes it a little sexy...

My other favorite presents were a llama lamp blanket.

​and these gorgeous Blackwing pencils!

Honestly, it's like if butter were a pencil, that's how smooth they are!!

It was a good day and I'm hoping you're having a good day too ❤️​​In case you missed it there's 2 fun exciting things happening this week. One is that on Friday I am having a big giveaway on my YouTube channel! To enter you have to leave a comment on the Mixed Media Profile Portrait lesson I did last week. In case you missed it, I taught the steps to make this cute girl!

I know that profiles are hard for a LOT of people. Like, a LOT a lot of people. I hope this gives you the guidelines and method (and confidence!) to create super cute profiles like this one much more easily and with much more FUN!!! To watch the video click HERE or click below! Remember, to enter the giveaway leave a comment in the video itself, that's all you have to do!

In the meantime I hope you have a very very merry and bright Christmas today!!!From my family to yours!

To make treating yourself a wee bit easier this holiday season, please enjoy 50% all online art courses now through New Years at Awesome Art School using Coupon Code MERRY50.

Next to hair and eyes, the most frequently asked question I get is HOW DO I DRAW A TURNED FACE???? And today is the day I teach you! Totally free, totally easy...once you learn how! In less than an hour you'll have it! So grab some paper and watercolors if you're feeling fancy and let's get to it! This the 7th Drawing Tutorial in the #100FunFabFaces Challenge! Come play! It's totally easy, free and FUUUUUUN!!! All you have to do is have a willingness to learn and a pencil 🥰

Sounds impossible, right?! Well it's NOT! Thanks to the easy method I have for drawing the male face, I will have you drawing this handsome dude in NO TIME FLAT! Okay so now your drawing is done, think he can't be painted? You'd be SHOCKED at how much painting you can do with only a measly little water-soluble pencil and a little Gesso!

​Sound intriguing and want to learn more? I got you covered! In this weeks full length art tutorial on YouTube I'm going to start from the very very beginning. Pick up that pencil and draw with me! You'd be amazed at what you can do!

By the way, if you'd like to share your drawings and paintings with me, I'd love to see them! You can join my warm Facebook community HERE! Wanna show off those drawings on Instagram? Tag me @karencampbellartist and use the #100FunFabFaces so all the challenge participants can check them out as well! This is week 6 of 20 in a 100 face drawing challenge and so far there are over 1000 posts on Instagram using this hashtag. I AM SO IMPRESSED!!!

In case you're not clear about what the challenge is, listen up! It's so fun!

Each week I am putting a full length tutorial up on YouTube and you have a week to do 5 variations of it. The idea is that after 20 weeks you'll learn 20 new ways to draw faces and have created 100 in all!!!! Sounds fun, right?!

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving week last week!Despite being sick for the entire week 🤒 and not being with family 😢, I still managed to gain 3.5 pounds...which leaves me to believe my holiday couldn't have been all THAT bad! I was clearly still having my fill! 🤣

I recently took the time to ask my Facebook Group what their biggest drawing struggles were and a LOT of people came forward to tell me about their shading struggles. Specifically, where to put the shadows and highlights when drawing faces.

In today's free video art lesson on YouTube I put forth my best explanation to answer this question followed by a one hour, real time lesson to show you exactly how it's done. When I do these full length tutorials, my hope is that you will pick up a pencil and draw with me!!! All you need for this exercise is a grocery bag (yes, you heard me right!) and a black and white pencil. Or charcoal/conte crayons/china markers work as well!

I will teach you how to determine where your shadows and highlights fall when drawing your faces. I'll also be showing you how to draw realistic faces from a photo reference, and how doing it on toned paper is exciting and easier than you think to get great results!

This lesson also acts as prompt 5/20 for the #100FunFabFaces challenge I am running with my Facebook Group and on Instagram.

If you'd like to draw along with me for all of my weekly challenges (all include a free video lesson) and start at the beginning, use this link to see them all in once place http://bit.ly/100FunFabFacesPlaylist

You actually save this Playlist to your own YouTube account and it will automatically get updated with new lessons each week as I share them there. Isn't that cool? Oh technology. Sometimes you are my foe, but in this case you are a most definite FRIEND!